The US lags behind India, China and Russia in hypersonic missile technology and Washington does not any longer have dominance in multiple advanced technologies, revealed a top US Senator.
Experts believe that the US remained more focused on developing advanced fifth as well as sixth-generation fighter jets rather than focusing on advanced missile systems like Russia and China. Although the sixth-generation fighter jet plans are in process, the US is behind the Asian giants in terms of hypersonic technology.
US Needs Technological Improvements
Senator Jack Reed, Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said during a nomination hearing on Wednesday that the US is in a situation where it needs technological improvements as it has lost its dominance in advanced technologies while China, Russia and India have advantages over it, according to WION.
Reed made the remarks while hearing a nomination of Dr. William LaPlante, to be undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment. Reed also focused that the US in near future faces the threat of trilateral nuclear competition with Russia and China and he asked LaPlante how will he address such challenges.
US Programs on Advanced Technologies
Replying to Reed, LaPlante said that the US has had a lot of initiatives for many years which focus on modern technologies that Reed has mentioned. He stressed that some new technologies are in the phase of prototype and will soon enter into the weapon system, which will help the US to face the new-era wars.
He pledged to work with the program officers to make it their job to do continuous upgrades of technology so we can get back into this race that you talked about.
It came as Russia recently fired hypersonic missiles in Ukraine, destroying a major underground weapons storage facility in the Ivano-Frankivsk region.
Russia used new Kinzhal aviation missiles which are believed to be untraceable by Western defense systems. The Kinzhal aviation missile system with hypersonic aeroballistic missiles destroyed a large underground warehouse containing missiles and aviation ammunition in the village of Deliatyn in the Ivano-Frankivsk region, the Russian Defence Ministry announced last week.
Kinzhal, introduced in 2018, is believed to be one of Russia's most advanced weapons and its speed is nearly 10 times higher than the speed of sound.
Such weapons have concerned the US and West, endorsing a call to work on more advanced weapons than Russia, especially at a time when Moscow has shown that it is a wider threat to the West and NATO.
